Hurmašice

Hurmašice are small baked sweets soaked in syrup, popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere. Their oval surfaces bear a fine crosshatch pattern, and in the mouth, the sweet syrup soaked into the dough spreads out.

Pressing the Pattern and Soaking in Syrup

In one example, the dough is made by combining butter, egg yolks, sour cream, flour and other ingredients. Small pieces are shaped, pressed against an upturned grater to give them a pattern, arranged on a baking sheet and baked. Cold syrup is poured over the baked sweets and left to soak in.

The flour dough holds its shape when baked and then absorbs the syrup. The pattern on the surface is not only decorative but also a trace of each piece being pressed by hand. Some formulas add cornmeal and pour hot syrup over the warm sweets. The temperatures of the syrup and the sweets differ depending on the method.

A cookbook from the City of Mostar presents Rabija Trbonja’s home recipe, shared by her granddaughter Ardijana. A dough of eggs, sugar, oil and flour is rolled into balls, flattened slightly and pressed against the fine holes of a grater. Cold syrup with lemon juice is poured over the browned sweets, which are covered and left to absorb it as they cool.

Sweets Made with the Same Technique, and Home Flavors

Turkish kalburabastı is also known as a similar sweet, patterned with a grater or sieve. The names and ingredients differ, but both share the step of soaking baked dough in syrup.

Glossary